Storage medium storing catalog information and apparatus and method for playing back catalog information

ABSTRACT

A storage medium which stores catalog information and a catalog information playback apparatus and method therefor. Using the method, catalog information including a still picture and additional information together with audio data are recorded on a storage medium such as a digital versatile disk (DVD), which is an optical record storage medium, and the catalog information is played back during playback of the audio data, to thereby provide various information on the audio data. Also, the apparatus includes a buffer memory for catalog playback which maintains a predetermined standard and compatibility, and is capable of real-time reading during playback of the audio data, and automatically plays back the catalog content, corresponding to the playback state of the audio data, when there is no additional selection of a user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No.98-7525, filed Mar. 6, 1998, in the Korean Patent Office, the disclosureof which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a field of optical recordingand/or playback, and more particularly, to a storage medium storingaudio data and catalog information related to the audio data and anapparatus and method for playing back catalog information.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] In an optical recording and/or playback apparatus in which adigital versatile disk (DVD) is used as a storage medium, a catalogfunction, and an apparatus or method for performing the catalog functionhas not been proposed.

[0006] Here, the contents of the audio include the record contents, thecomposer, the artist and/or performer, etc. Particularly, the catalog isadditional data for illustrating the contents of the audio which is maindata recorded on the storage medium, including such additionalinformation as still pictures and captions as video information.

[0007] The catalog information which is played back in a playbackapparatus having a video decoder, preferably, has an inspecting functionfor reading the desired contents of the catalog, without interferingwith the playback of the audio.

[0008] It is also preferable that the catalog information can be easilymanufactured using an established editing system for DVD-Video.

[0009] In order to satisfy the above-described conditions, two types ofinformation, i.e., audio and catalog data, which perform differentfunctions in a storage medium must be simultaneously played back. Thus,even when the audio data is played back at the maximum transmissionspeed of the playback apparatus, a predetermined amount of the cataloginformation must have already been played back and stored in a temporarystorage, so that both the audio and the catalog contents can besimultaneously played back.

[0010] That is, when the storage medium, in which information forforming the catalog is stored, is inserted into a driver, a player or aneditor, the catalog information stored in the storage medium is read andstored in a temporary storage, i.e., a memory, to be output in the formof an image if necessary. Here, in order to store the cataloginformation read from the storage medium, in the memory, the image sizemust be defined, and further a method for effectively using the memorymust be provided.

[0011] It is also preferable that navigation information, which has beenproposed in the DVD-Video, i.e., search information added to the cataloginformation such that a user can search an arbitrary catalog page, and aspecification for processing the search information be provided.Further, an editing system manufacturing a catalog corresponding to thespecification shares with an editing system according to the DVD-Videospecification.

[0012] Here, the DVD-Read Only Memory (ROM) is a record medium definedby the physical specification of Part 1 of a DVD specification for aread-only disk produced by Toshiba Corporation and other companies (theDVD forum) in August, 1996 and the file system specification of Part 2thereof. Also, the DVD-video means video edited by an image informationrecording method defined by the video specification of Part 3 thereof ora DVD-ROM disk in which the video is recorded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] It is an object of the present invention to provide a storagemedium for storing catalog information to satisfy the above-describedconditions.

[0014] It is another object of the present invention to provide aplayback apparatus and method for reading desired catalog contents fromcatalog information related to audio data, while the audio data storedin a DVD disk is played back.

[0015] It is still another object of the present invention to provide anapparatus and method for automatically accessing the location of thecatalog using real-time playback information extracted from audio datato be played back without a command to read the catalog in apredetermined location, while audio data stored in a DVD disk is playedback.

[0016] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be setforth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will beobvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of theinvention.

[0017] Accordingly, to achieve the above and other objects of thepresent invention, there is provided a storage medium randomlyaccessible and storing audio data and catalog information which isrelated to the audio data and stored in a predetermined region of thestorage medium.

[0018] The catalog information playback apparatus includes storing meansstoring audio data and catalog information from the storage medium inwhich audio data, catalog information formed of information related tothe audio data, and catalog playback information connecting the audiodata and the catalog information to each other during playback arestored, a video decoder providing an image restored by decoding thecatalog information and additional information, an audio decoderproviding audio signals restored by decoding the audio data, and acontroller controlling playback of catalog information corresponding toa selection of a user and the catalog playback information.

[0019] The method for playing back data recorded on the storage mediumstoring audio data, catalog information related to the audio data, andcatalog playback information connecting the audio data and the cataloginformation to each other during playback includes the steps of playingback the catalog information corresponding to the catalog playbackinformation; and playing back the audio data corresponding to the playedback catalog information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The above objectives and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent by describing in detail a preferred embodimentthereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

[0021]FIG. 1 shows a digital versatile disk (DVD)-read only memory (ROM)structure of one dimension according to an example of a storage mediumstoring catalog information according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0022]FIG. 2 is an example of a table showing catalog playbackinformation for playing back catalog information according to theembodiment of the present invention; and

[0023]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a playback apparatus for playing backcatalog information according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0024] Reference will now made in detail to the present preferredembodiment of the present invention, examples of which are illustratedin the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer tothe like elements throughout. The embodiment is described below in orderto explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

[0025] Referring to FIG. 1, the storage space of an entire DVD medium(DVD-ROM) is a volume space 100, which includes a volume and file systemregion 110 having information on the volume and recorded file structure,a video region 120 for recording image data, an audio region 130 forrecording audio data and an other file region 140.

[0026] The above data regions may have no information in the videoregion 120, and the catalog information related to each item of musicmay exist in a predetermined area of the audio region 130, and the otherfile region 140 may or may not exist.

[0027] Also, the video region 120 and the audio region 130 may include avideo management (VMG) region 121 and an audio management (AMG) region131 having management information on the recorded image and audio,respectively, and video title sets (VTS) 122 to 124 and audio title sets(ATS) 132 to 134, respectively, which are files in which the image andaudio data are recorded. The VTS1 includes a plurality of program chains(PGC) 125 to 128. Here, the PGC indicates a set of related data. TheVTS1 file for the catalog may have information on still pictures formedof a plurality of catalogs and sub-pictures, and navigation informationfor controlling the information on the still pictures and thesub-pictures. VTS2 to VTSn may have information other than the cataloginformation. As shown in FIG. 1, all image information related to theaudio region 130 is stored in the VTS1 122, so that the video region mayinclude only the VMG 121 and the VTS1 122.

[0028] Here, the structure of the information on the still picture andsub-picture, and the navigation, and the rules thereof are shown in theDVD-video specification.

[0029] Also, the catalog information can be effectively used by dividingthe catalog information into one common catalog PGC1 125 for the entireaudio region and a plurality of title catalogs PGC2, PGC3, . . . ,PGCn+1 126, 127, 128 corresponding to each audio title recorded in theaudio region 130. That is, a first audio title set (ATS1), i.e., thetitle catalog related to a first item of music (such as a song) isstored in the PGC2, and a second title set (ATS2), i.e., the titlecatalog related to a second item of music is stored in the PGC3, andthus the nth audio title set (ATSn), i.e., the title catalog related tothe nth audio title set (ATSn) is stored in PGCn+1. The common catalogand each title catalog are formed in a unit of a program chain (PGC) inthe video title.

[0030] According to the embodiment of the present invention, the catalogplayback information for connecting the VTS and ATS to each other forplayback is stored in the AMG region 131 or a predetermined region(information region) of the audio file. The AMG region 131 has a spacefor recording information on the entire audio region and each title, anda location of the catalog information may be additionally recorded onthe AMG region 131.

[0031] In the embodiment of the present invention, the catalog playbackinformation which is stored in the AMG region or the audio file region,may be stored in any location. Also, when the disk begins to be read, anappropriate means distinguishes whether or not the catalog playbackinformation exists. The means may define the file names, a region of adisk predetermined by a physical or logical address designated as aspace for storing catalog playback information, or informationindicating whether existence of a file in which the catalog playbackinformation is stored or not and a location of the file in the dataregion to be necessarily read such as a volume information region whenthe disk is read.

[0032] The catalog playback information may include the location of theimage information in which the catalog is recorded, a file identifier(ID) and an auto presentation information table in which is stored thelocation of the catalog to be played back corresponding to thepredetermined time according to real-time playback information of theaudio obtained by real-time playback of the audio.

[0033] In FIG. 2, the file ID can recognize a file in which the catalogplayback information is recorded. A catalog PGC number indicates thenumber corresponding to a common catalog and a title catalog in thevideo region in which the catalog is recorded. A catalog pointerindicates the location on the disk of a file or a PGC in which thecatalog is recorded.

[0034] Also, each corresponding auto presentation information table hasplayback time information capable of appropriately and automaticallyplaying back the catalog, using the real-time playback informationobtained from the audio data while each recorded title is played back,and information on the playback location of the catalog, so that theauto presentation information table has information on the still pictureand the sub-picture to be played back within catalogs when a user hasnot input commands while one title is played back.

[0035] In FIG. 3, a signal read from an optical disk (DVD-ROM) 210 isdemodulated and decoded to a digital signal through a DVD playbackprocessing unit 220 according to the physical specification of theDVD-ROM, to provide the restored signal to a buffer memory 250.

[0036] The restored digital signal is divided into audio data and videodata under the control of a system controller 240 and the audio data ofthe DVD-Audio specification as an example is written in an audio buffer251, and video data of the DVD-Video specification as an example, i.e.,catalog data is written in a video buffer 252. At this time, the buffermemory 250 can use one memory space or an additional memory.

[0037] The catalog data stored in the buffer memory 250 is read inaccordance with a control signal generated by the system controller 240and the read catalog data is restored to an image signal to be output.At this time, the system controller 240 generates an appropriate controlsignal based on control commands of a user through a remote controller,the auto presentation information table according to catalog playbackinformation, real-time playback information extracted from the audiodata, and navigation information of the catalog data, such that thecatalog data stored in the video buffer 252 to be played back is outputthrough the video decoder 270 as a video signal.

[0038] Meanwhile, the audio data of the DVD-Audio specification readfrom the audio buffer 251 is provided to the audio decoder 260 and theprovided audio data is restored to an audio signal to be output.

[0039] Here, the video decoder 270 represents a device restoring imagedata produced by the DVD-Video specification to an initial image andinformation added to the image. The apparatus for playing back theDVD-Video has already been produced and such an apparatus is well-knownto a person skilled in the art. Also, the audio decoder 260 restores theaudio data including the encoded audio data coded by linear pulse codedmodulation (linear PCM) or another predetermined manner, managementinformation for managing the audio data and real-time playbackinformation to initial audio and additional information. The systemcontroller 240 and a servo unit 230 control the system to appropriatelyoperate using the control commands from a user and various controlsignals obtained by playback signals.

[0040] Subsequently, a playback operation will be described in view ofthe video buffer 252 writing and reading catalog data, as shown in FIG.3.

[0041] The playback apparatus shown in FIG. 3 must store information onthe common catalog and the title catalog in the video buffer 252, beforea predetermined audio title is played back. If not, desired cataloginformation cannot be played back while the music is played back.

[0042] When either the common catalog or the title catalog is selected,the sum of the two items of catalog data should be smaller than thememory capacity of the video buffer 252 for playing back the catalog.Referring to FIG. 1, assuming that the PGC1 125 is the common catalogfor the entire audio region, and the PCG2 126 is the audio title 1,i.e., the title catalog 1 related to the first item of music, and thePCG3 127 is the title catalog 2 for the second item of music, and thePGCn+1 128 is the title catalog n for the nth item of music, the cataloginformation required for playing back the music has the common cataloginformation and the title catalog for the music to be played back.

[0043] Meanwhile, the amount of buffer memory of the playback apparatusplaying back the DVD-Video is approximately 4 MB (megabytes). Thisfunctions as a time buffer for resolving an inconsistency between atransmission speed of data read from the disk such as a variable bufferrate and a bit rate of audio played back in real-time or imageinformation.

[0044] The conventional buffer must be used to play back audio inreal-time, and an additional memory must be used to play back thecatalog. Thus, assuming that a memory of 16 MB is the entire buffermemory 250 when one memory is used, the memory size of the video buffer252 for playing back the catalog is 12 MB. For instance, when the amountof the data of the common catalog is 5 MB, the amount of the titlecatalog cannot exceed 7 MB.

[0045] Also, the title catalog information for each title may not exist.When the sum of the entire catalog data is smaller than thepredetermined memory capacity of the video buffer 252, the catalog isnot separately classified into the common catalog and the title catalog,and the catalog information on all music can be recorded in the commoncatalog.

[0046] When the optical disk 210 is played back initially, the systemcontroller 240 reads volume information of the optical disk 210, thefile system, and information on the VMG and AMG. As described above, thePGC data in which the catalog information exists is read from the videobuffer 252 according to the catalog playback information stored in theAMG region 131 or in a predetermined file. When required catalog data isread, the audio information is read to provide the read audioinformation to the audio decoder 260 through the audio buffer 251, andthe audio information is converted into an audio signal and theconverted audio signal is output through the audio decoder 260.

[0047] Meanwhile, if a user selects the catalog, i.e., if the userinputs commands for a desired catalog through an input unit such as aremote controller for controlling the playback apparatus, thepredetermined catalog data stored in the video buffer 252 correspondingto the input commands are provided to the decoder 270.

[0048] If the user does not input commands for playing back thepredetermined catalog, i.e., the user does not input the commands for apredetermined time, or the user sets an auto presentation mode, thecontents stored in the video buffer 252 are output through the videodecoder 270 to output an image of the predetermined catalog using theinformation in the auto presentation information table.

[0049] At this time, the catalog data includes still pictures for thebackgrounds and sub-pictures for transferring characters and the stillpictures and the sub-pictures are controlled using the navigationinformation defined by the DVD-Video specification. Thus, compared tothe case of using only still pictures, 32 sub-pictures can be selectedfrom the DVD-Video, which supports multiple languages.

[0050] Also, if the still picture includes character information, theincrease in the resolution of the still picture is required for playingback the character information to distinct pictures, so that thecompression ratio cannot be increased, and the background image and thecharacter information are divided, so that the compression ratio for thebackground is increased, and characters can effectively be coded using acompression method for effectively compressing characters defined by theDVD-Video.

[0051] As described above, the catalog function is realized using theDVD-Video specification, to thereby edit the catalog for DVD-Audio usingan editing system for the DVD-Video, and the playback apparatus forplaying back the catalog of the DVD-Audio also plays back the DVD-Video,to thereby minimize additional circuits.

[0052] Also, according to the present invention, the predeterminedDVD-Video specification is used, so that the character information ofthe catalog is not processed as the still picture but as thesub-picture, to thereby enable multiple language display.

[0053] Although a few preferred embodiments of the present inventionhave been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilledin the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departingfrom the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which isdefined in the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A storage medium randomly accessible, comprising:audio data stored in the storage medium; and catalog information relatedto the audio data stored in a predetermined area of the storage medium.2. The storage medium of claim 1, wherein the catalog informationcomprises: common catalog data for information commonly applied for theentire audio data recorded on the storage medium; and title catalog datahaving information corresponding to each distinct item of the audiodata.
 3. The storage medium of claim 2, wherein the catalog informationis image information produced according to a digital versatile diskvideo (DVD-Video) specification, and the storage medium includes anaudio region in which the audio data is recorded and an imageinformation record region in which the catalog information is recorded.4. The storage medium of claim 3, wherein the catalog informationcomprises: a still picture for a background image; a sub-picture for acaption; and navigation information for controlling the still pictureand the sub-picture.
 5. The storage medium of claim 3, wherein the audioregion for the audio data comprises: an audio data recording region inwhich the audio data is recorded; and an audio information recordingregion for the entire audio data and/or audio data in units of distinctitems of the audio data, in which catalog playback informationconnecting the audio data to the catalog information during playback isstored.
 6. The storage medium of claim 5, wherein the catalog playbackinformation comprises information on a location of the image informationrecording region in which the catalog information is recorded.
 7. Thestorage medium of claim 6, wherein the catalog playback informationfurther comprises: a file identifier (ID); and an auto presentationinformation table determining a location of the catalog information tobe played back corresponding to a predetermined time in accordance withreal-time playback information of audio obtained from the audio dataduring real-time playback.
 8. The storage medium of claim 1, furthercomprising: an audio region in which the audio data is stored; and avideo region in which the catalog information is stored.
 9. The storagemedium of claim 8, wherein: the audio region comprises an audiomanagement (AMG) region having management information on the audio data,and a plurality of audio title sets (ATS) in which the audio data isrecorded; and the video region comprises a video management (VMG) regionhaving management information on the catalog information, and a videotitle set (VTS) in which at least one title catalog of the cataloginformation related to each item of the audio data is recorded.
 10. Thestorage medium of claim 9, wherein the VTS comprises information onstill pictures formed of a plurality of the title catalogs andsub-pictures relating to the audio data, and navigation information forcontrolling the information on the still pictures and the sub-pictures.11. The storage medium of claim 9, wherein the AMG region comprisescatalog playback information to connect the audio data and the cataloginformation during playback.
 12. The storage medium of claim 8, furthercomprising: an audio region in which the audio data is stored; and avideo region in which the catalog information is stored.
 13. The storagemedium of claim 8, wherein: the audio region comprises an audiomanagement (AMG) region having management information on the audio data,and a plurality of audio title sets (ATS) in which the audio data isrecorded; and the video region comprises a video management (VMG) regionhaving management information on the catalog information, and a videotitle set (VTS) having a plurality of program chains, wherein a firstone of the program chains includes the common catalog information, andremaining ones of the programs chains include the title catalog datahaving information corresponding to each distinct item of the audiodata, respectively.
 14. The storage medium of claim 9, wherein the AMGregion comprises catalog playback information to connect the audio dataand the catalog information during playback.
 15. The storage medium ofclaim 1, wherein the storage medium is a digital versatile disk (DVD).16. The storage medium of claim 1, further comprising: an audio regionin which the audio data is stored and the catalog information is storedin a predetermined area of the audio region; and a video region whichcontains no information.
 17. A playback apparatus to perform a playbackoperation on a storage medium in which audio data, catalog informationrelated to the audio data, and catalog playback information connectingthe audio data and the catalog information to each other during playbackare recorded, the playback apparatus comprising: storing means forstoring the catalog information and additional information relating tothe audio data; a video decoder which decodes the catalog informationand the additional information, to generate a restored image; an audiodecoder which decodes the audio data, to generate restored audiosignals; and a controller to which controls playback of the cataloginformation corresponding to a selection of a user and the catalogplayback information.
 18. The playback apparatus of claim 17, whereinthe catalog information comprises common catalog data for informationcommonly applied for the entire audio data recorded on the storagemedium and title catalog data having information corresponding to eachdistinct item of the audio data, and the controller reads the catalogdata from the storing means in accordance with the selection from theuser.
 19. The playback apparatus of claim 18, wherein the controllerreads the catalog data from the storing means in a predeterminedsequence.
 20. The playback apparatus of claim 18, wherein the catalogdata stored in the storing means is defined within a predetermined size.21. The playback apparatus of claim 18, wherein a data size of a sum ofthe common catalog data and data of one title catalog from a pluralityof title catalogs which form the title catalog data is smaller than acapacity of the storing means.
 22. The playback apparatus of claim 17,wherein the restored image is a still picture for background display,and the additional information is a sub-picture for transferringcharacters.
 23. The playback apparatus of claim 17, wherein the videodecoder decodes the catalog information according to a standard digitalversatile disk-video (DVD-Video) specification.
 24. The playbackapparatus of claim 17, wherein the catalog playback information includesa file identifier and an audio presentation information tabledetermining a location of the catalog information to be played backcorresponding to a predetermined time in accordance with real-timeplayback information of audio obtained from the audio data duringreal-time playback, wherein if a user does not enter a catalog selectioncommand for a given time during a playback mode of the audio data, thecontroller reads the audio information table to extract thecorresponding catalog information of the audio data being played back.25. A playback apparatus to perform a playback operation on a storagemedium in which audio data, catalog information related to the audiodata, and catalog playback information connecting the audio data and thecatalog information to each other during playback are recorded, theplayback apparatus comprising: a decoding unit to decode the audio dataand the catalog information using the catalog playback information; astorage device to store the catalog information of the audio data whichis to be played back; and a controller to control the decoding unit andthe storage device, so as to simultaneously decode the audio data to beplayed back and the catalog information corresponding to the audio datato be played back in accordance with the catalog playback information.26. The playback apparatus of claim 25, wherein the controller storesthe catalog information of the audio data which is to be played backprior to playing back the audio data.
 27. The playback apparatus ofclaim 25, wherein the controller distinguishes whether the catalogplayback information exists in the storage medium by defining file namesof the catalog playback information, defining a region of the storagemedium predetermined by a physical or logical address designated as aspace for storing the catalog playback information, or defininginformation indicating whether of a file exists in which the catalogplayback information is stored and a location of the file in a volumeinformation region, during the playback operation.
 28. A method ofplaying back data on a storage medium storing audio data, cataloginformation related to the audio data, and catalog playback informationconnecting the audio data and the catalog information to each otherduring playback, comprising the steps of: (a) playing back the cataloginformation corresponding to the catalog playback information; and (b)playing back the audio data corresponding to the played back cataloginformation.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the storage medium hasan audio region for the audio data which includes an audio datarecording region in which the audio data is recorded and an audioinformation recording region for the entire audio data and/or audio datain units of distinct items of the audio data, in which the catalogplayback information is stored.
 30. The method of claim 28, wherein thestorage medium has an audio data recording region in which the audiodata is recorded and an image information record region in which thecatalog information is recorded, and the catalog information includescommon catalog data for information commonly applied for the entireaudio data recorded on the storage medium and title catalog data havinginformation corresponding to each distinct item of the audio data. 31.The method of claim 30, wherein the catalog playback informationincludes information on a location of the image information recordregion in which the catalog information is recorded.
 32. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the catalog playback information further includes afile identifier and an auto presentation information table determining alocation of the catalog information to be played back corresponding to apredetermined time in accordance with real-time playback information ofaudio obtained from the audio data during real-time playing back. 33.The method of claim 32, wherein the step (a) comprises the step ofplaying back the catalog information according to a predeterminedsequence stored in the auto presentation information table.
 34. Themethod of claim 30, wherein the step (a) further comprises the steps of:receiving a selection of a user; and playing back the cataloginformation according to the selection of the user.
 35. The method ofclaim 30, wherein the step (a) comprises the steps of: preferentiallyplaying back the catalog information selected by the user; and playingback the catalog information satisfying a predetermined condition. 36.The method of claim 35, wherein the predetermined condition is a case ofthe user not selecting making the selection of the catalog informationfor a predetermined amount of time or setting a catalog autopresentation mode.
 37. The method of claim 28, wherein the playing backof the catalog information in the step (a) is performed simultaneouslywith the playing back of the audio data in the step (b).
 38. The methodof claim 37, further comprising the step of storing the cataloginformation corresponding to the catalog playback information prior tothe steps (a) and (b).